Other Forms of Psychological Bias
Decision Making Deconstructed - Understanding the Role of Bias
Bias can come in a variety of forms. Here are five different types of bias and tips for how we can avoid them in the future:
Confirmation Bias: When we look for information that supports already existing beliefs or use information and data to support a specific conclusion without considering the possibility of other conclusions [1, 2].
How to avoid confirmation bias [1, 2]:
How to avoid anchoring bias [1, 3]:
How to avoid overconfidence bias [1, 4]:
Gambler’s Fallacy: When we expect past events to influence the future, or, when we notice a specific situation happening more often than not, we might assume the chances of it happening again are less when in fact the past has no impact on the future. An example of this is a coin flip, if we get heads multiple times in a row, we might assume the next time we flip the coin the chances of heads are less when in fact, the chances remain 50/50 [1, 5].
How to avoid gambler’s fallacy [1, 5]:
How to avoid fundamental attribution errors [1, 6]:
Additional Links and Resources:
These videos explore other forms of bias. There can be different terms for the same type of bias depending on social setting, industry, and research explored. All forms of bias are important to be aware of to help us identify the different aspects that affect our decision making process.
12 Cognitive Biases Explained - How to Think Better and More Logically Removing Bias
It's Time To Address The Role of Implicit Bias Within Health Care Delivery (Health Affairs Blog)
This article explore the false sense that inequity comes from outside the health care system and how health care systems can adapt to actively address these inequities within their practice.
The 5 Biggest Biases That Affect Decision-Making (Your Brain at Work)
The NeuroLeadership Institute has identified 5 biggest biases that affect decision making, these biases are identified as: Similarity Bias, Expedience Bias, Experience Bias, Distance Bias, and Safety Bias.
Outsmart Your Own Biases (Harvard Business Review)
We are all susceptible to biases and the first step to addressing them in becoming more aware of what our biases are and how they show up in our decision making processes.
References:
[1] | Mind Tools Content Team, "Avoiding Psychological Bias in Decision Making," 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/avoiding-psychological-bias.htm. [Accessed 22 September 2020]. |
[2] | D. M. Gorman, "'Everything Works': the need to address confirmation bias in evaluations of drug misuse prevention interventions for adolescents," Addiction, vol. 110, no. 10, pp. 1539-1540, 2015. |
[3] | R. Nagtegaal, L. Tummers, M. Noordegraaf and V. Bekkers, "Designing to Debias: Measuring and Reducing Public Managers' Anchoring Bias," Public Administration Review, vol. 80, no. 4, pp. 565-576, 2020. |
[4] | J. Howard, "Overconfidence Bias," in Cognitive Errors and Diagnostic Mistakes, Springer International Publishing, 2019, pp. 351-367. |
[5] | J. Howard, "Gambler's Fallacy and Hot Hand Fallacy," in Cognitive Errors and Diagnostic Mistakes, Springer International Publishing, 2019, pp. 203-210. |
[6] | R. Lee, "From the Fundamental Attribution Error to the Truly Fundamental Attribution Error and Beyond: My Research Journey," Perspectives on Psychological Science, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 750-769, 2018. |